GeotimesUntitled DocumentNews NotesOceanographyRevisiting the Lost City

After the chance discovery of the white spires of a hydrothermal vent community
in 2000, Deborah Kelley of the University of Washington and her co-workers were
able to revisit the surprising site in 2003. They found a community of deep-sea
dwellers that relies on hydrogen and methane, in a specialized submarine tectonic
setting.

The so-called Lost City is a white smoker, draped in carbonate deposits,
and is the first of its kind to be found so far. Kelley and her team suggest
this environment opens up a new way of thinking about the origins of life on
this planet and elsewhere.